Chapter 213

A dazzling cluster of light flickered, cutting through the dark void of the Holy Sanctuary.

And from the center of that light, a single silhouette began to slowly reveal itself.

A worn-out coat, crude equipment hanging from the waist, and above all, a soft yet steadfast gaze that had not been eroded by the storms of time.

It was a sight unfamiliar to everyone present, but to one person—Jain, the leader of the Dawn Assembly—it delivered a shock akin to looking into a mirror.

“…What is this?”

The eyes of the future Jain, the Assembly Leader, shook violently.

He could not fail to recognize the man standing before him.

For it was none other than his younger self.

“How… how can my past self exist here? Is this an illusion?”

The Assembly Leader asked Taewoon in a trembling voice.

“It is not an illusion. This is one of my Authorities—the power to summon a being with whom I share a connection, transcending time and space.”

Taewoon answered calmly, nodding toward the past Jain.

“We don’t have much time, so I will explain later.”

Following Taewoon’s will, Aquila activated.

Soon, a vast amount of information—the journey of the 3rd Cycle that Taewoon had endured, the current situation as the End of Dawn approached, and the fragmentation of the Three Major Powers leading to the death of the Cult Leader—was transmitted to the past Jain.

Having received the flood of information, the past Jain closed his eyes and remained silent for a moment.

When he opened them again, a more resolute will resided within.

“…I see. To think the world had reached such a state.”

The past Jain slowly turned his head to stare at his future self.

One pair of eyes held a conviction that had not yet been broken; the other held eyes that had chosen compromise after countless failures and frustrations.

The gazes of the two Jains clashed in the air.

“To think that you are my future. It is hard to believe, but I must accept it.”

“…That look in your eyes. It has been a very long time since I last saw it. I, too, had a time like yours.”

The future Jain gave a bitter smile. Facing his past self was far more painful than he had imagined. It was like being forced to stare piercingly at exactly what he had lost.

“You gave up,” the past Jain said bluntly.

His tone was closer to a dry confirmation of fact than a condemnation.

“The resurrection of the Dawn Sun God. To think you would lay down the great cause we yearned for so desperately with your own hands and rely on the solace of the Apocalypse Society.”

“That was not an escape,” the Assembly Leader countered softly.

The weight of agony accumulated over decades resided in his voice.

“You would not know. How many attempts we made, how many sacrifices we paid. And how despairing the truth we faced at the end was.”

“The truth, you say…”

The past Jain looked up at the ceiling of the Holy Sanctuary. Through the broken cracks, a red sky was visible.

“What is this truth you speak of? The prediction that the Dawn Sun God would become an uncontrollable Monster? Or the fact that the beings arriving at the End of Dawn are Calamities beyond our power to handle?”

“Both. We failed. And we have no choice but to admit it. The god we tried to create is not a guardian of humanity, but merely another predator.”

The Assembly Leader’s voice rose.

“We were able to create the vessel to mold a god, but in the end, we found no way to control the will that would dwell within. A born god will inevitably transcend human understanding and bring about an even greater tragedy.”

It was a conclusion based on thorough logic and reason. It was an undeniable result of calculations observed by mobilizing the wisdom of numerous sages and even forbidden methods.

However, the past Jain shook his head.

“Calculations, predictions, probabilities… Since when did the Solvers of the Assembly obsess over such things?”

“…….”

“The reason we are called Solvers is not because we always know the answer to a problem or can make the correct calculations. It seems you have forgotten that fact.”

The past Jain took a step forward. The distance between the two narrowed.

“You have likely gained far more experience and knowledge than I have now, and possess power accordingly. However, the world does not change simply by sitting and clicking an abacus.”

“…Your words are correct, but that is why they are so shallow,” the Assembly Leader replied calmly, though great remorse filled his eyes.

“All that returns after countless attempts is emptiness. I know the years you have endured, but you do not know the years I have endured.”

“Yes, I do not. If I have memories different from yours, it would only be a few special experiences I shared with a close friend.”

The past Jain did not back down. Instead, he stared at his future self with an even stronger gaze.

“But I still remember. The simple yet firm conviction that you—no, that we—originally held.”

A heavy silence flowed through the Holy Sanctuary. Taewoon and his companions watched the conversation with bated breath.

“You spoke of a peaceful rest. That disappearing without pain is salvation.”

The past Jain continued.

“But for whom is that salvation? Is it for those facing death, or is it for yourself, who is simply too exhausted to fight any longer?”

The Assembly Leader’s pupils shook. It was as if he had been struck where it hurt most.

“We are not saviors. We are Solvers. We are those who roll in the mud and bleed to solve the problems placed before us. If the world wants us to head beyond the End of Dawn, then we must achieve it even if our bones break and our flesh is torn. Even if we end up failing.”

“…What a convenient thing to say.”

The Assembly Leader’s voice trailed off. However, he was no longer as resolute as before.

“I do not care if it sounds like chasing clouds. But if we had conformed to an irrational reality, we would never have walked this path in the first place.”

The past Jain posed one final question to the future Jain.

“Do you remember? Why we decided to become Solvers of the Dawn Assembly.”

The Assembly Leader remained silent. Memories from the distant past flashed through his mind like a kaleidoscope.

An ordinary young man with no talent and no special background. The day he blindly knocked on the doors of the Assembly simply because he could not stand by and watch people suffer unfair pain.

“To be honest, I never imagined I would become the leader of the Assembly,” the past Jain spoke candidly.

Then, he let out a bitter laugh.

“There were as many people more talented than me as there are stars. Among them, I was just an ordinary, perhaps even a failure of a Third-Class Solver.”

“But as time passed, most of them are no longer here. In the place where everyone vanished… only I remain.”

It was the sorrow of a Survivor, and the grief of one who had been forced to shoulder the burden.

“I did not sit in this position because I was special, but simply because I was the one who remained until the end. And you wish to call that a providential design with a reason?”

At the Assembly Leader’s self-deprecating question, this time Taewoon spoke.

“Perhaps that is exactly why.”

During the 1st Cycle, upon hearing that his future self had become the Assembly Leader, the past Jain had denied it. He had claimed there must be some hidden internal story or that he was merely acting as a proxy.

Taewoon recalled his meeting with the previous Assembly Leader, Kenneth. The Constructor of the Ark and one of the greatest leaders the Dawn Assembly had ever known.

“Not only Kenneth, but perhaps every Assembly Leader in history struggled with the same doubt. Is the resurrection of the Dawn Sun God truly the right path? Is this truly salvation?”

The future Jain fell silent. The previous Assembly Leader, Kenneth, was not a figure of small significance to Jain.

Taewoon’s gaze stared intently at Jain.

“That is why he chose the Ark. But at the same time, he could not completely abandon the Assembly. Because even if he left, someone had to carry on the task. Then, why on earth did Kenneth choose you?”

As Taewoon took another step closer, strength began to infuse his voice.

“What Kenneth needed might not have been someone who didn’t doubt, but someone who didn’t stop. Someone who could step toward an uncertain result even in the face of tens of thousands of failures.”

A person who experienced more failures because they lacked talent compared to others, and who persisted in their vocation as a Solver even while producing crude results.

Taewoon recalled the image of Jain when they were together at the Red Man Theater. That righteous young man who, even in the face of overwhelming terror, gripped his trembling legs and dove in to save people.

“Kenneth likely believed that because you were lacking compared to others, you would be the one able to carry on the task. Because any talent would fade at the End of Dawn, and if the situation is one where a rational calculation cannot provide an answer, all that remains is the person themselves.”

“…That, cannot be.”

Jain’s voice trembled. In truth, he might have hoped that someday someone more talented would appear, take this heavy burden away, and achieve the perfect resurrection of the Sun God.

But Taewoon’s words were simultaneously denying and affirming all those years of Jain’s life.

The past Jain reached out his hand to his future self and spoke.

“Since the era has chosen you, there is no longer any need to be swayed by the situation before your eyes. You simply need to make your choice. It is time to find the path once again.”

“……”

The future Jain stared blankly at his past. Forgotten memories, that burning initial resolve, were slowly emerging from the depths of his heart.

“…There are many problems. I cannot even guarantee whether the resurrection will succeed or fail, and we lack both time and resources.”

It was still a wall of reality that seemed insurmountable.

But Taewoon reached out to the future Jain without a moment’s hesitation.

“Are you still arguing over plausible reasons? All that is needed is your choice.”

“…….”

The silence continued, and finally, having made up his mind, Jain approached Taewoon and extended a calloused hand.

“I have gone through countless solutions, but none of them were the correct answer… so let us try. I will help you, staking everything I have left.”

Yerin and Seoyoon, watching from the side, nodded, while the Branch Leaders of the Ark buzzed in confusion.

Taewoon squeezed the hand he held and turned his gaze toward the final battle to come.

Now, it was time to write the final chapter of the myth.